P O S T HASTE STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY SUSAN DRAGOO

Now largely forgotten, the BUTTERFIELD OVERLAND MAIL

ROUTE in SOUTHEASTERN is a historic tie to the nation’s westward expansion. For the intrepid traveler, following its

trace through the state is a WILD WEST treasure hunt.

The Brazil Creek Bridge in LeFlore County is a pony truss span over a scenic spot near what was a nineteenth- century mail station.

80 July/August 2018 OklahomaToday.com 81 HE LAND STILL bears the faded scars of the old route: a swale through a pasture, a cut-down creek bank, a path worn bare Tthrough the forest. In some forgotten places, walled springs still flow near the rubble of rock buildings or graveyards of broken stones. Tey testify to the At the time, long sea journeys were the easiest mode of TRAVEL long-ago passage of the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoaches through from the EAST COAST to the newly populous west, and the nation what would become Oklahoma. It’s been 160 years since the first needed a more efficient way to DELIVER THE MAIL. two bags of mail on the route crossed the Poteau River into . Today, an excursion along Oklahoma’s 192 miles of the Butterfield trail is both time warp and treasure hunt. My husband Bill and I set out to retrace the Indian Territory section of the 1858- 1861 Butterfield route, traveling the back roads of southeastern Oklahoma to discover what remains.

Three-cent stamp from 1861, uspcs.org

HE ROAD BEGAN in Tipton, Mis- Tsouri, at a terminus of the Pacific Railroad. At the time, long sea journeys were the easiest mode of travel from the East Coast to the newly populous west, and the nation needed a more efficient way to deliver the mail. Enter Utica, New York, native John Butterfield. He was a veteran stagecoach man and a founder of the Railway Express company that eventually became American Express. In 1857, Butterfield secured from the Postmaster General a contract to set

The Lime Arch Bridge in Pittsburg County near Hartshorne is a natural rock formation near Brushy Creek.

82 July/August 2018 OklahomaToday.com 83 Our first stop is Walker’s Station at SKULLYVILLE. Here on a quiet

country lane once sat the Choctaw Agency, which was established in 1832 to

distribute tribal allowances to citizens of the CHOCTAW NATION.

up the stage line and, in a year’s time, One of the challenges of finding organized a network of coaches, drivers, the old road today is that virtually all horses, guards, veterinarians, black- of it, except what’s been incorporated smiths, stables, and mules to cover into modern roads, is behind barbed the 2,800-mile mail route. wire fences and locked gates. Luckily, Te first coach left Tipton on the Oklahoma Historical Society September 16, 1858, bound for San placed roadside markers at station Francisco. After crossing Missouri, sites in 1958 to commemorate the Arkansas, and Indian Territory, the trail’s centennial, and most of the route made a long traverse of markers still are intact and accessible. then skirted the Mexico border into California before turning north HE FIRST BUTTERFIELD wagon arrived toward its final destination. Te Tat 2:05 a.m. on September 19, Postmaster General required delivery 1858 in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and of the mail within twenty-five days, that’s where we begin our journey. Te a goal Butterfield’s drivers often beat. stagecoach forded the Poteau River and entered Indian Territory about 3:30 a.m. We leave Fort Smith through Ar- koma, crossing the Poteau River bridge and following State Highway 9A. Our first stop is Walker’s Station at Skullyville. Here on a quiet country lane once sat the Choctaw Agency, which was established in 1832 to dis- tribute tribal allowances to citizens of the Choctaw Nation. Te station was at the home of Choctaw Governor Tandy Walker, and his house stood on this hillside until it burned in 1947. Today, JJ RITCHEY the spot would be easy to miss, but on Spring Road, a green sign for Roselawn was overgrown and unkempt, densely is easy to spot from the roadside on The Butterfield Overland Mail Route Ten-cent stamps from Before running the first stage, Cemetery marks a turn-off. Here, a covered with blackberry and hon- Rock Jail Road northwest of Panama. traveled 192 miles through Indian 1861, uspcs.org Butterfield made arrangements with walk north along the street reveals a eysuckle bushes. Now, the cemetery Te county road dead-ends to the Territory. It originated in Missouri and Choctaw and Chickasaw citizens granite marker and a bronze plaque in is managed by the Choctaw Nation southwest, so we detour over Buck ended in San Francisco. living on or near the road to maintain a trace of the stagecoach road. Looking and well groomed, and the graves of Creek Mountain, crossing a steel stands where teams of horses quickly southwest from the marker, the depres- Tandy Walker and other Choctaw truss bridge at Brazil Creek. Brazil Turning west on Latham Road could be changed out. In Indian sion in the earth left by the trail is leaders are shaded by massive oaks. Station was nearby, a stop on local toward Trahern’s Station, we come Territory, there were a dozen official obvious, and water still seeps down the Te stagecoach road continued mail lines, though not an official across the second marker near Te stations about sixteen miles apart, hill from the spring house to the north. southwest of Spiro, passing near Butterfield station. Wright observed Ranch at Latham, an event center beginning with Walker’s Station at Oklahoma historian Muriel Wright, the Skullyville County Jail, the only the station’s old well still in use and and performance venue owned by Skullyville near present-day Spiro. Te who was part of the 1958 entourage remaining artifact of the Skullyville a cemetery plot at the site. With Jonathan and Kelly Watson. Te trail then ran southwest on a diagonal identifying marker sites, mentions in County government of the Choctaw property owner Karen Looper, we centerpiece of the Watsons’ barn is, near Latham, Red Oak, Wilburton, her report the tall trees giving the site Nation. Te present stone jail was find the moss-covered gravestones appropriately, a stagecoach, and they Higgins, Atoka, Boggy Depot, and an aura of dignity and importance. built in 1888, replacing facilities enclosed by a wrought-iron fence, even have a surrey with a fringe on Durant before reaching the site of Te Skullyville cemetery is just west established soon after the Choctaws and Looper leads us to the rubble of top. Not surprisingly, cowboy-themed Colbert’s Ferry at the Red River. of the station. Wright noted that it were removed to Indian Territory. It Brazil School. weddings are their specialty.

84 July/August 2018 OklahomaToday.com 85 Trahern’s also was the location of historical marker sits at the roadside. State Park is located among the Sans within a few feet of the roadway. We We try to maintain our southwesterly Clockwise from left, Dog Creek Ranch in the council house of the Musholatub- Now unoccupied, the structure appears Bois Mountains a short drive north stop at a marker for the Mountain course but encounter a locked gate. Tis Poteau; Walker’s Station near Skullyville; bee district of the Choctaw Nation. sound, though its porch is a bit shaky. of Wilburton on Highway 2, and we Station spring, which still flows. Be- presents an opportunity to venture off Oklahomans celebrating the Butterfield A large mound south of the histori- Two fine stone chimneys still are intact. enjoy a night in one of the cliff-side yond the spring, we catch a glimpse the trail to visit Lime Arch Bridge, one centennial in 1958 cal marker is reportedly the grave of I walk to the cemetery to gaze north cabins before hitting the trail again the of a rocky trace of the trail on the of Oklahoma’s few natural stone arches. Chief Musholatubbee; legend has it toward the wooded Brazil Creek valley next morning. hillside. To find it, we head southwest out of the mound is so large because he was and the hills beyond. But the trail is becoming harder Hartshorne, eventually turning west buried with his horse. We drive on to Red Oak, stop- ROM LUTIE, THE old trail parallels U.S. to find. An obscure section line road on Arch Road. Soon, we spy a small Beyond the Walls community on ping briefly at the Holloway’s Station FHighway 270 for about six miles over a low water bridge at Buffalo pull-out and a gate clearly intended Norris Road, we find a real treasure marker, then to the Lutie Cemetery then turns south, ascending to Moun- Creek takes us to Pusley’s Station, to provide access for foot traffic and hidden on a hilltop: the only surviv- east of Wilburton. Te Riddle’s Station tain Station. Now only a cemetery, where only the base of the historical bearing the handwritten words, “Keep ing original building along the But- marker is located near the cemetery, Mountain Station was not an official marker remains. It is right in the trace gate closed.” A short walk takes us to terfield route in Oklahoma. Edwards and the stone-rimmed Riddle burial Butterfield stop, but it boasted a post of the stagecoach road, which leads a huge limestone formation. Tere, Store, a hewn-log structure, was built plot abides near a towering oak. office and probably owes its existence toward the creek. A fenced cemetery water cascades over a shelf into a pool before 1858 and provided stagecoach By this time, we haven’t covered to the Butterfield route. For several with Pusley family graves appears that flows through a natural arch with passengers a good meal, which was a many miles, but it’s taken a lot of miles on either side of the cemetery, abandoned. Trees have fallen on the an eighteen-foot span. It’s a sight the significant luxury on the frontier. A time, so we call it a day. Robbers Cave we can see the depression of the trail stones, breaking several. casual passerby would never suspect.

86 July/August 2018 OklahomaToday.com 87 through some of Oklahoma’s most beautiful mountains and prairies, where settlements are few, and other vehicles are rare. It would have seemed fitting to meet a stagecoach along the way. Te next station is Geary’s Stand, which was flooded by the creation of the Atoka Reservoir. A marker stands at the dam, and the wind off the lake emphasizes the drama of our find. Ninety-cent stamp from 1861, Continuing south, we stop at the Atoka uspcs.org Museum and Civil War Cemetery, Skullyville Cemetery where the Butterfield trail is memorial- Northeast of Spiro on Spring Road. ized with a large granite marker along- GPS: 35.25109, -94.59436 side the graveyard, the only designated The Ranch at Latham ECONNECTING WITH THE Butterfield Confederate cemetery in Oklahoma. (Trahern’s Station) 30723 Latham Road in Rtrail in Ti Valley, we travel west Boggy Depot Station, a park man- Shady Point, (918) 658-4567 or between limestone hills through a aged by the Chickasaw Nation, is a facebook.com/theranchatlatham broad prairie. We cross over the Indian good spot for a night’s rest. In 1858, Edwards Store Nation Turnpike, and after all the miles it was the largest and most important Norris Road northeast of Red Oak. of lollygagging along dirt roads, the settlement on the Butterfield route be- GPS: 34.99748, -94.9741 rapid passage of traffic below is almost tween Fort Smith and Sherman, Texas. Robbers Cave State Park a shock. Over the bridge, we take a left Now, the only evidence of the once- State Highway 2 North in Wilburton, on the county road and find the marker thriving community is the historic (918) 465-2562 or TravelOK.com/state-parks for Blackburn’s Station hidden in the cemetery. We camp at the park and Mountain Station weeds along the roadside, its bronze have the place nearly to ourselves; an Mountain Station Road southwest of plaque missing. eclectic symphony of cattle, chickens, Wilburton. GPS: 34.83653, -95.42466 Turning west, we splash through owls, and coyotes awakens us. Before Lime Arch Bridge Brushy Creek at a low crossing and breakfast, I stroll the dogwood-lined Four miles east of Blanco on Arch Road continue along shaded roads to Wad- nature trail down to the lake. GPS: 34.74958, -95.70216 dell’s Station. Soon we’re driving in the From Boggy Depot, the road turns Atoka Wildlife Management Area Atoka Wildlife Management Area and toward the Red River and approaches Eleven miles north of Atoka on notice a yellow metal sign saying “But- the Nail’s Crossing Station on the U.S. Highway 69, (580) 320-3173 or terfield” at a southbound turn-off. Te Blue River. It’s inaccessible, but we wildlifedepartment.com. road leads to the ruins of a stage stand come close when we stop to visit Atoka Museum and Civil War Cemetery at Breadtown Creek. We walk into the rancher Jack Risner. His property 2902 North U.S. Highway 69, woods on a trace of the trail and find a borders the Blue and also is the site of (580) 889-7192 or crumbling rock wall and well. Fort McCulloch, the main Confeder- okhistory.org/sites/atokamuseum. Leaving the Wildlife Management ate fortification in southern Indian Boggy Depot Park Area, we pop out on U.S. Highway 69 Territory during the Civil War. Only 4684 South Park Lane in Atoka, near Stringtown. Te back roads we earthworks remain. We walk the tall (580) 889-5625. have just driven from Latham wind man-made mounds with our host then Historic Site trudge through the river bottom on 3348 State Road 199 in Durant, Top left, weddings are a specialty at The a trace of the trail to what may have (580) 924-6502 or chickasaw.net. Ranch at Latham northwest of Poteau. been the Nail’s Crossing, but we can’t Bottom left, Fort Washita near Durant. tell from the west side.

88 July/August 2018 OklahomaToday.com 89 From Fort McCulloch, the trail it’s on our way home. Fort Washita, the most well-documented and least runs south to Fisher’s Station, skirts fifteen miles northwest of Durant on changed of any of Oklahoma’s historic the western edge of Durant, then ends State Highway 199, was established in trails. Even now, it offers a chance to its Oklahoma leg at Colbert’s Ferry. 1842 and during the 1850s was a busy travel through time. After we find the station marker, we waypoint for travelers headed for the Te Butterfield trail draws today’s try to reach the actual location of the California gold fields. It was supplied traveler close to the past in a way that ferry but encounter a locked gate and via the route we’ve just traveled. It’s a feels authentic: Sitting on the porch of a warning sign. Te pilings of a toll beautiful place now owned and oper- a log home where stagecoach passen- bridge established later at the ferry site ated by the Chickasaw Nation. gers enjoyed a meal; walking a wagon are visible east of the U.S. Highway 69 swale where heavily laden wheels once bridge across the Red River, and we HE BUTTERFIELD OPERATED for only rolled; cooling off with water from have to be satisfied with that. Tthree years; the outbreak of the a mountain spring that slaked the One more stop seems necessary to Civil War shut it down. But according thirst of folks riding the long journey make the trip complete, and, besides, to Wright, the road was the most im- to California; and doing it mostly in portant of any in the development and solitude because of the remoteness of Bill Dragoo takes a dinner break at Boggy settlement of Oklahoma. Te point these back roads and relative obscurity Depot Park near Atoka, which offers could be argued among historians, but of these sites. Much of it is a challenge plenty of camping and RV sites. the Butterfield may well be at once to find, but therein lies the fun.

MEGAN MULLALLY

For July/August, the Oklahoma Music Trail: Rhythm & Routes honors Megan Mullally. The Oklahoma City native is most famous for her Emmy-winning role as the over-the-top but lovable Karen Walker on the hit television show Will & Grace, which returned to NBC in 2017 after an eleven-year absence — as well as memorable turns on Parks and Recreation, Bob’s Burgers, and Childrens Hospital. In addition to television and movies, she is active in theater and music and has appeared in Grease and Young Frankenstein on Broadway. She currently tours as part of Order your free copy of the the bands Supreme Music Program and Nancy and Beth. Oklahoma Music Trail brochure at TravelOK.com, and plan your www.meganmullally.net 90 July/August 2018 Rhythm & Routes itinerary today.